The Triwizard Tournament
by RhynnCollins
Summary: Cypress Moran is the male first-year Ravenclaw tribute in the Triwizard Tournament, a tournament where Hogwarts students fight to the death for the enjoyment of Muggles. Will he be the one to survive?
1. Chapter 1: How it all started

Welcome to my first ever decent fanfic! Leave me a review, they really help me write quicker and I'd love to know how/where I can improve. If you want new updates quicker than anywhere else, go to the Potter and Pals website, because I always update it there first!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Harry Potter universe. I also don't own the Hunger Games universe. I do own this story though.

**Chapter 1: How it all started**

My name is Cypress Moran and I am the male first-year Ravenclaw tribute in the 174th Triwizard Tournament. Right now I am standing on the steps to Hogwarts castle, looking at the shining gold Cornucopia right in front of me. The 31 other tributes are standing next to me. In the Cornucopia I can see some wands, some rods and other weapons and right in front of me on the ground is a mokeskin pouch which could contain anything. I know next to no magic and have never used a Muggle rod, giving me a huge disadvantage.

Before I can really get my bearings, the gong sounds and everyone is off. Without thinking too much I grab the mokeskin bag and run towards the Forbidden Forest, only bending to pick up a sweater on the way. I hear shouts and bangs of curses behind me, followed by screams and more bangs and curses. I run as fast as I can, eager to get away from them all. I don't stop until I'm well into the forest, with nothing but trees and darkness around me.

Once, long ago, this forest was a place no Hogwarts student would dare to set foot in without a very, very good reason. Then again, back in those days Hogwarts was a nice place where students had no bigger fear than failing their exams and maybe a magical accident or two.

These days are very, very different.

About 50 years ago, a bit more, the then Minister for Magic Barnabus Mathers thought it was time the Muggles learned of the existence of the Wizarding world. At first everything seemed to go well- Muggles came to Wizards for help (as Mathers had anticipated and hoped for) and they co-existed peacefully.

But then the Muggles got a new Prime Minister who didn't like Wizardkind one bit. He thought us freaks of nature and was of the opinion that we needed to be controlled. It was the main point of his campaign and the overwhelming amount of votes he got proves that many Muggles thought the same. A civil war ensued and as expected Wizards were winning- guns are no match for wands.

Until the Muggles discovered that electricity could be used in much the same way as magic. They developed wands of their own called rods. In the beginning they only shot lightning bolts, but as the war went on they became more and more dangerous, eventually surpassing wands. Wizards didn't stand a chance. To avoid more casualties the new Minister for Magic (William Potter, a grandchild of Harry Potter) surrendered. All wizards were moved to wizarding towns- Godric's Hollow, Hogsmeade, Ottery St. Catchpole, Diagon Alley and others. The towns were put under heavy security and no one can get in or out without them knowing. We only get the resources they permit us to have and we are obliged to create magical artifacts and the like for use by Muggles. We get a small bit of gold each month to survive, but it's hardly enough.

Attending Hogwarts is mandatory. It would be far too dangerous if wizard kids didn't learn to control their magic. The government provides all the equipment a student needs, including a wand - although the wand still chooses the wizard. At Hogwarts the students' results are heavily monitored. Every fail on a test, no matter how minor the test is, puts your name into the Goblet of Fire an extra time.

And each year, the Goblet of Fire chooses students to take part in the Triwizard Tournament. The tournament has always been dangerous for students of course, but the new tournaments are on a whole different level. It's now a way of showing wizards that Muggles are in control and wizards are just there to do their bidding, to provide them with items and to be entertainment for them. There are no longer just three Champions, one from each school. In fact there are no longer three schools taking part, it's only Hogwarts. The Goblet of Fire chooses 24 students - tributes, they're called - to take part. One boy and one girl from each odd year (1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th) and each House. They are trained for a few weeks and paraded around to gather sponsors, who may send them items in the arena. And then they are sent out into the Hogwarts grounds, with nothing but the clothes they wear and the items they can get in the Cornucopia. Even their wands are taken from them.

There is only one survivor.

The survivor gets to continue their studies at Hogwarts and if they aren't Seventh years, they will be at risk of participating again in another year. Yeah, they're that cruel. Seventh years who win have it nice though, they get to live in freedom. They can live wherever they want, so they usually move out of the country and start a new life somewhere else. I've heard wizards can still live in peace in Japan. Must be nice.

As for me... well, I still have my whole Hogwarts career in front of me so even if I manage to make it out of this Tournament alive, I'll still be stuck in this horrible place. I suppose I should tell you a bit more about myself, now that you know what the heck is going on.

Like I said before, my name is Cypress Moran. Just call me Ress, only my mum calls me Cypress. I live in Godric's Hollow with my mother and five year old sister, Cherry. I'm a first year at Hogwarts and I've been sorted into Ravenclaw. My only friend is my barn owl. Her name is Hope. Quite fitting, because she'll be the one to bring me packages from sponsors in the Tournament, which might be my only hope of actually surviving.

The wand that chose me is made of Holly wood and has a unicorn hair core. It's 13 and a half inches long and unbending. Not that it does me much good right now. Tributes aren't allowed to bring their own wands into the arena so it has been taken from me. I didn't even get to use it much.

On the train to Hogwarts I met a few students. I thought we might even be able to become friends. One of them, Rowan, didn't get sorted into Ravenclaw so I quickly lost contact with her. The other three shunned me after I got chosen by the Goblet. They pretty much pretended I was dead already. I suppose that's the best way for them to avoid getting hurt.

Maybe I'll be able to re-connect with Rowan in the arena though - she's the female first-year Slytherin tribute.

Not having friends made the weeks leading up to the start of the tournament a living hell. It would have been great to have some friends to talk to in those few weeks of normal life I had left. Okay I did have training and the whole sponsoring thing to go through, but tributes are still allowed to follow classes and be with others during that time. Instead I just spent my time in the Library, looking up useful things and practicing spells. Who knows, I might be able to get my hands on a wand.

It doesn't seem very likely though. I'm surrounded by trees and darkness and the others could be hiding anywhere, waiting to attack me. I have zero experience gathering food or using weapons. All I have is a mokeskin bag and a sweater.

I should look for shelter before I get ambushed.

So, I continue into the forest. My cloak gets caught on branches all the time and it has quite a few rips and tears already. I stop every few feet to listen for sounds, but I hear nothing but the rustling leaves and the sound of my own heartbeat. I must be a boring sight for the camera's now. They'll probably be focused on the Cornucopia. I haven't heard the cannons yet so the fight must still be going on. I wonder how many are dead already.

I suddenly trip over a root. Instead of falling to the ground though, I find myself rolling down a slope. Some sticky substance clings to me and some of it gets into my mouth. When I finally come to a rest and take a look at myself, I see that I'm covered in spiderwebs and tiny dead spiders.

That's when I saw the other, bigger spiders.


	2. Chapter 2: Actomantulas

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See chapter 1 for the disclaimer

******Chapter 2: Acromantulas**

They were slowly approaching me, their fangs clicking menacingly. I try to think of anything I can do, but all I can come up with is 'just try do die as quickly as you can so you don't suffer'- the exact words of my Head of House when I asked him about my options for life-threatening situations. There are three of the huge spiders approaching me from the front and, judging from the clicking, at least three more at my back. I'm surrounded, with no chance of survival, unless someone else comes and saves me - in other words, I have no chance of survival at all.

Spiders never bothered me much, but these really are in a league of their own. They are at least five feet tall with great big hairy legs and bodies. The legs look like they could pierce me without even trying and the fangs are twice as bad. Their shining black eyes, eight per spider, have a menacing glint of hunger in them.

If by some miracle I survive this I don't think I'll ever be able to like spiders again.

They're really close to me now and there's nothing I can do. My hand is resting on some rocks but I doubt those can hurt them, let alone kill them. They're not good as a distraction either, the beasts can clearly see me sitting here after all.

I shudder as I feel the hairs of one of the spiders touching my neck. I close my eyes and welcome death- at least it'll release me from this nightmare. But just as I feel the spider at my back getting ready to attack me...

_Arania Exumei!_

Through my closed eyes I can still see a flash of light shooting at the spiders. The curse is repeated a few times and I hear the huge hairy bodies thudding on the ground.

Who is stupid enough to rescue me? Are they cruel enough to want to kill me themselves instead of leaving it to the beasts? Perhaps they've made a deal with their Head of House; perhaps they've been promised a gift for each tribute they kill. Yeah, that has to be it.

Still not believing myself to be saved, I keep my eyes closed and wait for the inevitable killing curse. If they have a wand that's by far the easiest way of killing me.

But it never comes.

Instead, I hear a gentle woman's voice saying "Hey, it's alright now, they won't bother you anymore. Are you hurt? Can you get up? We should get out of here before they come back..."

I open my eyes and see a pair of green eyes looking back at me. The girl has her black hair tied back into a loose ponytail. I've seen her around during training, she comforted Rowan a few times. A Slytherin, but I don't know her name.

She extends her right hand to me and assures me it's alright, they're not going to kill me. It would be stupid of me to believe them, but I might as well join an alliance; I have better chances of living to see another day with them around. At worst they'll kill me tonight when I'm asleep; that'll have extended my life expectancy by at least a few hours, then. Gives me a chance to say goodbye to the world, I guess.

So, I take her hand and she helps me get up. I'm a bit shaky so she gives me a few moments to catch my breath. While I wait for the shakiness to go, I look around to see where the spiders went. The smaller ones are still scuttling around everywhere, but the big ones are gone. But like the girl said, they'd probably be back. What I _do_ see, however, are three other people, two boys and one girl. I think I remember them and the girl who reached out to me hanging out together, but I'm not sure.

"I think I'm good to go now," I say. All four of them nod and they turn around. "C'mon, we should go find shelter. It's too bad the Acromantula's are still around or we'd have been able to use their burrows."


	3. Chapter 3: The Alliance

Enjoy! Remember, the Potter and Pals forum always has updates to this story before any other website!

For the disclaimer, see chapter 1

******Chapter 3: The Alliance**

It's getting really dark by the time we reach a clearing with quite a few uprooted trees. I briefly wonder what could have uprooted them; [i]_maybe a giant_[/i] flashes through my mind but I quickly dismiss it- there have never been giants in this forest. We circle the clearing before entering, using the trees as cover, just to make sure nothing else has already claimed the place. It's safe though, so we make our camp beneath the roots of the biggest tree. The roots are covered in weeds, making it a great shelter for about three people. The oldest boy quickly makes a smokeless fire (he's the only one with a wand, so it must have been him who got rid of the spiders) and we warm ourselves on it.

"So," the younger boy starts, "What's your name?"

For a fleeting moment I want to lie, but that seems very dishonest to them and it doesn't really seem useful, so I decide to just tell them the truth. "Cypress Moran, but everyone calls me Ress. I'm the the male first-year Ravenclaw tribute."

He nods and says "Nice to meet you, Ress. I'm Jean-Pierre Weasley, but just call me JP. Jean-Pierre sounds too fancy. I'm also in Ravenclaw, third year. I've known these three my whole life."

The girl who helped me get up at the spiders took this as her cue to introduce herself as well. "I'm Rosie Potter, seventh-year Slytherin," she must've seen the look on my face as she added "Yeah, _that_[ Potter family. The Minister for Magic William Potter's my granddad, which makes Harry Potter my great-great-grandfather. Apparently I look like him. Something with the hair and eyes, I guess."

"I've seen pictures," the oldest boy said "It's scary how much they look alike, really. Rosie's just the female version of him. She's got the same wand, too, though it doesn't do her much good right now of course." He paused for a moment. "Oh I'm Romulus Lupin by the way. Seventh-year Ravenclaw. Apparently one of my ancestors was a werewolf; it's given me some crazy genes allowing me to run as quick as a werewolf. And making me quite a bit more hairy than most boys my ages, but there's plenty of magic against that so I don't mind it much."

"Keeps you warm as well. Hi, I'm Morgana Weasly, JP's cousin," the younger girl spoke for the first time, "Gryffindor, just like pretty much all of my ancestors. Fifth-year."

I shook hands with each of them as they introduced themselves.

Just as I wanted to ask them something that had been on my mind ever since I met them, the Triwizard Tournament anthem played. We all looked up at the sky above our clearing. Nine cannon shots had sounded while we were looking for shelter.

The first name to appear made me feel a bit uncomfortable; it was the first-year Ravenclaw girl, Patty Lurset. Which means I'm the only first-year Ravenclaw left.

She's followed by the first-year male Gryffindor, Murat Bashir; the two first-year Hufflepuffs Cedar Figgan and Bonnie Bones; the third-year female Slytherin and male Hufflepuff Galea Urquhart and Lennart Hocking. Then three fifth years; the male Ravenclaw Alex Jones, the female Slytherin Lillian Croose and the female Hufflepuff Shannah Mackenzie.

We all sat in silence for a few moments until Romulus suggested we roast the rabbits he'd snagged on our way here. We don't speak much during the meager meal and when most of the rabbits are gone, we only discuss the night's watch schedule before we find a soft spot to sleep on. I'm on the second watch, so I settle on a mossy patch beneath the tree's roots.

I have trouble getting to sleep, though. I keep thinking of the tributes who have already died. Half of the first-years, two third-years, three fifth-years and not a single seventh-year. If the other seventh-years have formed an alliance as well, I doubt our little group stands much of a chance.

Speaking of our little group; I still didn't get to ask them what I wanted to. I've been wondering ever since the Acromantulas. Why did they save me? Why not save themselves the trouble of doing me in later? I don't have anything to offer them, I'm just dead weight they have to haul around and probably save at every turn.

With my thoughts still raging on, I slowly fall into a dream filled with glittering eyes, hairy bodies, long legs and startling green eyes.


	4. Chapter 4: Wish upon a Star

Time for Chapter 4! The rhyme is mine, I only used one line from an old song, which is what inspired the rhyme in the first place. I have to admit I can't remember the title though - if you know it, let me know in the reviews!

See Chapter 1 for the disclaimer

******Chapter 4: Wish upon a Star**

When I jolted awake, I looked straight into those startling green eyes again. I almost screamed before I realized it was just Rosie, coming to wake me up for my turn to keep watch. She handed me a silver dagger - something they must have picked up at the Cornucopia along with the wand - and took my spot under the tree roots.

I stand up and look around a bit. Romulus, who is keeping watch with me, is already sitting on one of the upturned trees. When I sit down next to him, he gives me a little smile.

"Slept well, Ress?" he asks. He chuckles when I try to suppress a yawn, but fail.

"Not great, really. Dreamt of the spiders. I was never afraid of spiders, but I guess almost getting killed by a bunch of them changed my view a bit."

Romulus chuckled again. "Yeah, can't blame you for that." I glance at him. He's staring into the distance, quickly getting lost in thoughts. I turn around and look the other way, so we can't get attacked from the back.

Almost an hour later, he speaks again.

"Say, Ress... if there was anyone in this tournament who you'd want to save, apart from yourself, who would it be?"

I don't have to think about this very long; there's only one person I know other than Rosie, Romulus, Morgana and JP: Rowan, the Slytherin girl I met on the train. I don't answer immediately, though. Would I really want to save her? What if she turned out to actually be a terrible person, completely different from how she seemed on the train? Would she do the same for me?"

Romulus looks at me questioningly and I decide to answer. "Well... I only know one person in this tournament, and I only met her on the train to Hogwarts. I don't even know if she's... you know, good. If she's a person worth saving, or if she's terrible."

"Ress, everyone is worth saving. If she's terrible, so be it; she'll meet her match sooner or later. But don't you agree that anyone should get the chance to show who they are?"

I think about it again. He has a point. What if she turns out to be really nice, like she was on the train? "Rowan. Rowan Lestrange. She's the first-year Slytherin tribute."

Now Romulus was silent for a moment again. "Lestrange, huh? No surprise about the Slytherin sorting there."

"You know her?" I ask him, surprised.

He shakes his head. "No, but I've heard of the name. She comes from a long line of Slytherins and most of them weren't too nice. One of her ancestors was married to Voldemort's greatest lieutenant."

I can't help but be shocked at this. Romulus obviously noticed. "Still, it doesn't mean she's just as bad, of course. Like I said, everyone should get a chance to show who they are. Bad family history or not."

I nod in agreement. I'm about to ask if he knows anything more about her, when he interrupts.

"Hey Ress, you know that old nursery rhyme, the one about wishing on a star?"

I nod. "Yeah, it goes like this, right?

_When you're happy,_

_when you're sad,_

_or you've lost the friends you had,_

_When you're up,_

_or when you're down,_

_when you just can't help but frown,_

_Make a wish upon a star,_

_and I will follow where you are_

_Wish upon that star for me,_

_and with you I'll always be._

_'Cause when you wish upon that star,_

_when you're near or when you're far,_

_When you make that wish for me,_

_I'll be with you soon, you'll see._"

"That one, yeah," Romulus replied, "Let's make a wish. Let's each wish that at least one person, the person we want to save, gets out of this alive. I know it's just an old rhyme, but it's worth a try, right?"

"But," I say, "Can't there only be one winner? Only one survivor? At least one of us won't have our wish come true."

For reasons beyond me, Romulus cracked a smile.

"Yeah... _if_ we play the game according to their rules."


End file.
